Smart Card Plastc Reports Bankruptcy, 80K Backers Get Zilch

First launched in 2014, Plastc started out as an ambitious project. It was heralded as the next big all-in-one payment card: It could hypothetically store the details of 20 different debit or credit cards, sported an E-ink screen, and dazzled many tech enthusiasts with its super slim 0.8 millimetre width. Plastc backers believed in the technology so much that they were willing to pump a total of $9 million into pre-orders.

Despite the promise that Plastc would launch in late April 2016, delays pushed back its release date, and company CEO Ryan Marquis took to Reddit to assure backers that Plastc was “getting very close”. The shipping delays didn’t stop there, however, with the company claiming a typhoon had caused problems with their Asian parts suppliers. This resulted in a release frame projected for Q4 2016, where only a select group of buyers would receive Plastc as part of a ‘test group’. The remaining shipments were planned for delivery in 2017.

Today, the whirlwind campaign fraught with delays and failed promises has come to an unfortunate end. Plastc announced on its website that it will be filing for bankruptcy, and that all its employees have been laid off. The company said that it is “disappointed and emotionally distraught, and while we know this is extremely disappointing for you” referring to the 80,000 hopeful who supported Plastc’s vision and lost their financial investments, it “did everything (it) could to make Plastc Card a reality”. Plastc blamed recent investment deals that fell through for its failiure to ship the card.